酒井根下田の森 Sakaine Shitada Forest

Some years ago, I happened on a tiny valley bordered by a forest near Reitaku University campus. At that time the place was known as ふくろうの森 Fukuro no Mori, or Owl Forest. When I went looking for the forest last weekend, I got hopelessly lost because the name has changed to Sakaine Shitada Forest. Through a little [...]

湯たんぽ Yutanpo is gentle on my toes and the environment

It used to be that the Japanese version of the hot water bottle, 湯たんぽ yutanpo was either a flat earthenware or tin container. These days, they’re also made of plastic. At 無印 Mujirushi shops, they’re expensive and not that big. To my surprise, the Nitori shop on Route 6 has really cheap ones, so I bought two. Opps, [...]

野田市・やよい食堂 The Yayoi Diner in Noda City

This afternoon, in Noda City, we had a powerful hunger on us. It could only be satisfied with curry rice.
Sempai suggested we go to やよい食堂 Yayoi Diner, famed for it’s デカ盛り dekamori, or giant portions. I love the phone number on the noren curtain. It’s 三七九一 san nana ku　ichi, or as Sempai pointed out, 皆食い [...]

Eating Locally

Have you heard of the 100 Mile Diet? In 2005, a Canadian couple decided that, for one year, they would only eat food grown within 100 miles of home. They had some great challenges finding foods they craved and staying within their budget, but over time, they learned how to manage a local diet.
Why eat a local [...]

Food Anomalies in Kashiwa

Kashiwa is full of surprises. Take for instance, The Ogori Cafe, as reported by Cabel.
Last weekend, we went to The Big Winner, an American diner caught in time. On the old Mitsukaido, just a 5 minute walk from the east exit of Kashiwa Station, you’ll see the front end of a Cadillac on the building [...]

Secret underground passageway

In order to pay the rent in Chibaraki, I work in Tokyo. The artery which pumps me and thousands of commuters into Japan’s economic heart is the Joban Line which starts far to the north in Iwate Prefecture, passes through Ibaraki and Chiba and ends at Ueno Station.
The Joban has two tracks, really. The [...]

Matsudo Yosakoi 2009

Tomorrow is Matsudo Yosakoi festival. Wooooo! Will the weather cooperate? I sure hope so.
So, you ask, what’s Yosakoi mean? It’s a Kochi dialect which means “come at night”, and refers to a really high energy dance form that combines traditional festival dance forms with modern music. The costumes are not traditional but pop versions of [...]

すし勢 Gourmet Sushi Hazumi

Last night, we rented bikes from Kashiwa’s east exit bike depot, whooped all the way out to the Teganuma Ohashi Bridge to the east, over the bridge, through Teganuma Park on the Abiko side, and stopped for dinner at グルメ回転すし勢 Gourmet Kaiten Sushi Hazumi right across the road from Teganuma.
The wait was about 15 minutes to [...]

Northern Chiba Natural Beauty

There are so many beautiful secrets in northern Chiba Prefecture.  Go see!
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Bike Rental in Kashiwa

I’ve seen these bikes around town, the ones emblazoned with the Kashiwa Reysol mascot.
So, where do you get one? Kashiwa Station east exit, behind the Sogo Department store, there is a little cycle rental depot. The bike man told me that if you show some ID – passport, gaijin card – and fork over 200 [...]